1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ink cartridge detachably mounted on a carriage, and in particular to a cartridge for an ink jet printer.
2. Related Art
A conventional ink cartridge mounted on a carriage for an ink jet printer typically includes a container having on one wall thereof an ink supply port where an ink supply needle of a printing apparatus is inserted, and an opening on the other wall thereof which is sealed by a lid as disclosed, for example, in Japanese published unexamined patent application No. Hei. 8-132635. The container accommodates therein a porous body impregnated with ink. The porous body is formed of polymeric resin.
For an ink cartridge installed in a printing apparatus wherein color printing is enabled, a single container is divided into plural chambers by one or more partitions. A porous body impregnated with ink is housed in each chamber while an ink supply port is formed in each chamber. A film for sealing a respective opening of each ink supply port is provided when mounting the ink cartridge provided with plural ink supply ports as described above on a carriage on which ink supply needles of the same number are secured, the needles must each pierce a respective film. Therefore, a large urging force is required for a user when mounting the cartridge. Therefore, there has been proposed a printing device designed to have a pivotable lever, one end of which is attached to the carriage, so that the ink cartridge can readily be mounted on the carriage by simply operating the lever.
However, although a cartridge can be mounted with small urging force, misposition of the cartridge with respect to the carriage may occur by rough insertion. Further, as the bottom of the cartridge is pushed with large force in a state in which the bottom comes into engagement with ink supply needles in a case where the cartridge is mounted in a wrong direction, there arises a problem that the ink supply needles are broken.